While we wait for further those voyages, the show’s second season lands on DVD in December.
The US entertainment industry is getting back on track in the wake of the resolution of both writers and actors strikes. As this happens, one of the shows we’re most keen to see return is Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
Chronicling the early voyages of the Starship Enterprise, under Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), the show has won acclaim for pushing the boundaries of its format. That’s despite only bringing two 10-episode seasons to air so far.
Of course, the show’s momentum was boosted by the fact that it span out of the already up-and-running Star Trek: Discovery, and that it draws on the franchise’s legacy characters.
Strange New Worlds was set to commence filming on season 3 in May, just as the writer’s strike kicked in. However, the show has reportedly maintained a plan to begin production as soon as matters were resolved.
Based out of Toronto, TrekMovie.com reports that the show’s pre-production has recommenced, with filming expected between December and July 2024. Apparently, much of the show’s visual effects work was completed ahead of the strikes.
Episodes by 2024?
Given the timescales involved, we expect a 2025 launch. Alternatively, as Trek Movie theorizes, a split-season may allow some episodes to air in late-2024. Either way, it’s a heck of a long time to wait for that cliffhanger to be resolved!
Strange New Worlds Season 2 comes to home formats
In the meantime, the show’s second season is released to own on shiny discs in time for Christmas.
Picking up on the first season’s cliffhanger, which saw first officer Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) imprisoned for concealing her genetic enhancements, season 2 introduces a quirky new chief engineer – the brilliant Pelia (Carol Kane).
With more appearances from Lt. Kirk (Paul Wesley), there was chemistry between the future Captain and La’an Noonien Singh (Christina Chong). It also explored the romance between Spock (Ethan Peck) and Christine Chapel (Jess Bush), while digging into the her role in the Klingon war alongside Dr M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun).
The format-flexing nature of the show was showcased on a couple of occasions. First in the highly-anticipated and hilarious Lower Decks crossover ‘Those Old Scientists’. Then in song, for the first Star Trek musical episode ‘Subspace Rhapsody’. We’re still not over the Klingon boyband!
Finally, the season closed by delivering on the Gorn threat, introducing Scotty (Martin Quinn) and leaving us with a mighty cliffhanger.
The release promises over two hours of special features, included deleted and alternate scenes.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S2 comes to DVD, Blu-Ray, Blu-Ray Steelbook and 4K UHD on December 4th, 2023.